Capucine Gougenheim
Alixia's bar area: l'Hétéroclito in Guéthary, where you can touch the ocean
Surfboard left against the wall, excess sand removed from the body, head for the counter where a team of youngsters are busy behind the bar. Fresh drink ordered, time for a break. The gaze sweeps over the immensity of the ocean, just ahead. L'Hétéroclito is Guéthary's mythical spot, where surfers, young and old, and families have gathered for generations.
It's the end of summer, a summer torn between heat waves and torrential rains.
Before us, the water stretches endlessly in shades of blue punctuated by sandbanks whose dark outlines gradually fade into a turquoise blue, almost crystal clear. Quite rare on the Atlantic coast.
Surfers ride the waves offshore, while swimmers battle and surrender to the capricious current along Parlementia Beach. Large tables enliven the crowded terrace, and the interior is improvised: every day, a beach changing room is set up under the suspended skeleton of a boat hull, known as "the whale ."
Glasses clink, plates pile up, and we are shown to a table or a corner of the bar. Inside and outside, the bar is a transitional space: people lean on the counter to exchange a few words. They don't linger, but it's a necessary stop. We head out onto the terrace, drawn by a cheerful hubbub that confirms the friendly atmosphere. The view is haunting: sculptural cliffs, red and white houses climbing up the coast, and the magnetism of the sea and sky, which, through a striking optical effect, merge on the horizon and accentuate the magical atmosphere of the place. A must in Guéthary.
